Page 119 of See You Maybe

Her eyes watering and face throbbing, Olivia forced her eyes open. The answer appeared in front of her. She didn’t risk a glance back before she grabbed the handle and yanked the large knife free from its block. Bracing her back against the counter, she raised the knife in front of her.

Kyle stood with his eyes shut, gripping tufts of his hair. “You ruined everything.”

“Get the fuck out of my house.” The words weren’t as forceful as Olivia hoped, but when Kyle’s eyes popped open, they went from her face to the knife pointed at him and back again.

Olivia could taste the blood in her mouth, and her face and neck were on fire.

“What’s this, Livvy? You’re going to fight back now?” His eyes dipped to the knife, a cocky smile on his face. “Your hand is shaki?—”

If she hadn’t been so frightened, Olivia might have enjoyed the comical expression of shock on his face when she lunged, burying the knife in his side.

Kyle didn’t drop immediately, like she expected. He let out a sharp cry and then his arm shot out and he wrapped her hair around his hand. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Then the hand was gone, and Kyle staggered to the side, knocking into the counter as he stared down at the knife. “Stupid bitch,” he whispered. Olivia watched in frozen horror as Kyle stumbled to the front door and out into the night.

Shaking, Olivia waited precisely five seconds before sprinting to the front door, ignoring the stinging pain in her feet as she raced across the broken porcelain. Flipping the lock and panting hard, she pressed her palm hard against her chest.

Oh my god. What if I killed him?

What if he calls the police? I’m going to jail!

He attacked you, her rational mind chimed in, but no one believed her before…

Kyle’s family had deep ties in the city. There was no guarantee… and the humiliation of everyone knowing what she’d been hiding. People saw Olivia as a high-powered female executive. Strong. Assertive. Hell, she’d even spoken at a local high school and served as a mentor for young girls…

Now everyone would know she was a fraud. She wasn’t strong. She’d been weak and afraid for so long.

Shame, deep and dark, pulsed through her.

I should have left years ago.

I never should have married him.

Olivia walked back to the destruction of her kitchen and bit her cheek hard at the sight of her teacups in a million pieces. She pulled her phone from her purse and stared at it. It wasn’t 911 she wanted to call. It was Declan. She stifled the sob that rose in her throat. Grandma Rose would be so disappointed in her.

Slowly, Olivia set the phone down, and avoiding the mirror on the wall, she grabbed two ibuprofen before she began to clean.

I’ll get a better security system. Maybe get the dog I’ve always wanted. I can handle this—if I don’t get arrested tonight.

An eerie calm came over her. The fallout of her pressing charges would be worse, she told herself. Olivia could file for a protection order—or try, anyway. She had no proof it was him and no documentation from any of the prior times. Even then, Kyle would ignore a piece of paper. And if it ever got out, it would only enrage him further. How could she face everyone at work when they knew her secret?

Kyle wouldn’t get close to her again. She’d make sure of it—If he was still alive, that is.

Olivia’s legs shook as she climbed the steps to her room. I should lay out some clothes, she thought, in case the police come. Her mind felt oddly disconnected, and if she hadn’t been so grateful for the numbness, Olivia would be worried. She’d stabbed her ex-husband. She should feel something.

Later that night, after she’d cleaned the cuts on her feet and her lip, Olivia rubbed arnica cream into the bruises on her face. She couldn’t get Kyle’s eyes out of her mind. Tears slipped down her cheeks, stinging her broken skin, as she curled into a ball under the covers. She wasn’t sure what exactly she was crying for… The pain? What happened? What would come? Or, what would never be?

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Atlanta—Present Day

Declan poured coffee from the communal pot into a nondescript mug. Todd had looked at him strangely the first time he’d returned to his office with a cup of coffee from the employee kitchen. Normally, he would demand Todd go to a coffee shop, rather than drink the overcooked coffee from an employee lounge. But Declan liked the idea of accidentally running into Olivia when she made one of her many cups of tea throughout the day.

By eleven, Declan noticed the small pink teacup with the green leaf saucer was still sitting in the same place as when he came in early that morning.

Did she have a meeting out of the office? Declan scowled. He was acting like a teenager, hoping to get a glimpse of his crush. Frowning, he went back to his office and tried to concentrate. Olivia had a scheduled meeting with him in an hour. He could wait an hour, he thought, tapping his pen restlessly against the desk.

However, thirty minutes later, Todd appeared in his doorway. “Mr. Bloom, I’m sorry to interrupt. Ms. Adler won't be able to make it to your meeting today. She apologizes for the short notice.”